Water dispensers allow discharging of water controlled to a certain temperature in a temporary water storage tank(s) through a water discharge line(s), when the user operates a lever or a cock of a water dispenser to open a valve, so that the discharged water can be poured into a cup or the like of the user. In general, the raw water container includes a container body having a neck portion and a shoulder portion, and a plug sealing the neck portion, and is placed at a position higher or lower than that of a temporary water storage tank(s).
An exemplary water dispenser of the type in which the raw water container is placed at a position higher than that of the temporary water storage tank(s) includes: a container supporting portion configured to support the shoulder portion of the raw water container from below; a cup portion recessed from the container supporting portion at a position capable of receiving the neck portion to be inserted from above; a piercing rod configured to pierce the plug from below upward; and a casing containing therein the container supporting portion, the cup portion and the piercing rod. The piercing rod disposed facing upward in the cup portion is configured to pierce the plug of the raw water container which is placed on the container supporting portion from above with its container mouth facing downward, and to be is brought into close contact with the inner periphery of the plug through which it pierces, in a water tight manner. The piercing rod is provided with a water inlet configured to open inside the raw water container and to allow communication between the raw water container and the water supply line which extends from the raw water container to the temporary water storage tank. Arrangement of the raw water container in a vertically reversed position as described above eliminates the need to insert the piercing rod deep inside the raw water container. If the water remaining in the container body leaks when the raw water container is pulled up to be disconnected from the piercing rod, the cup portion receives the leaking water.
Among these, a water dispenser is known in which a deformable container is used as the container body, and which is provided with a holder configured to cover the raw water container placed on the container supporting portion. This container body is a deformable container including a side peripheral portion which is capable of naturally shrinking as the amount of water remaining in the container body decreases and which comes to a position higher than that of the shoulder portion when the container is placed. Therefore, the volume of the container body can be reduced when the raw water container after use is disposed of. If the side peripheral portion capable of naturally shrinking deforms unevenly, significantly biased to one way in the horizontal direction, the neck portion might tilt in the biased direction, and the fitting between the inner periphery of the plug and the outer periphery of the piercing rod might be lost. In order to prevent this problem, the holder configured to guide the side peripheral portion downwardly is provided (below-identified Patent Document 1).
On the other hand, in a water dispenser of the type in which the raw water container is placed at a position lower than that of the temporary water storage tank(s), the raw water container after use can be replaced with a new one without lifting up the heavy new raw water container, and the workload of a user for replacing the raw water container can be reduced. Raw water in the raw water container placed at the lower portion of the casing is drawn up into the temporary water storage tank(s) by a pump disposed in the water supply line. When the water level in one of the temporary water storage tank(s) falls to a predetermined lower limit, the pump is activated automatically, and supplies water to the temporary water storage tank. At this time, if a sensor monitoring the status of the water being pumped detects that there is no more water available to be drawn up, a control section activates a notification device so as to notify the user that the raw water container now needs to be replaced (below-identified Patent Document 2).
In the water dispenser disclosed in the Patent Document 2, when a slide table stored inside of a drawer space provided at the lower portion of the casing is pulled forward, the container supporting portion is exposed to the exterior of the casing, and after the raw water container in a vertically reversed position has been placed on the container supporting portion from above, the slide table can be pushed back into the casing. The piercing rod is provided movably on the slide table such that, when the slide table is pushed back into the drawer space, the piercing rod is automatically elevated to be inserted into the plug of the raw water container which is mounted in a vertically reversed position. If the piercing rod configured to be movable as described above is used, it is not necessary for the user to visually confirm if the piercing rod is securely inserted into the plug of the raw water container. Since the water dispenser disclosed in Patent Document 2 uses a rigid container as the container body, it does not include the holder as in the water dispenser disclosed in Patent Document 1.